Sacramento showdown:Dueling protests planned

Candlelight vigil opposing soldier in effigy
reportedly to be crashed by anti-war activists

Organizers of a pro-troops vigil scheduled for tonight in Sacramento to protest a U.S. soldier hanged in effigy on a house say anti-war activists, including the couple who erected the display, plan to crash the event.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Steve and Virginia Pearcy created a national uproar last week by hanging in effigy a U.S. soldier on their home with the message “Your Tax Dollars at Work.” Later the message was changed to “Bush Lied. I Died.”

Move America Forward, a national organization that supports American troops and the war against terrorism, decried the display, calling it a “hateful message that undermines our troops,” which “should be treated the same as the hate that spews from the likes of KKK members.”

Message posted above Iraqi flag at Sacramento home.

The organization has planned a candlelight vigil for 7 p.m. Pacific time tonight at the Pearcy home to show support for U.S. troops – and the couple, according to media sources, plan to return from Berkeley (their full time residence) to Sacramento (where they have a weekend home) to erect a new anti-war display during the pro-troop event.

In a statement, Move America Forward said the group organized the vigil with talk-show host Mark Williams of KFBK in Sacramento and Deborah Johns of Northern California Marine Moms.

The organization also says it has also been told anti-war activists are planning a counter-protest against the candlelight vigil.

“We have heard the claims from the Pearcys and their supporters that they support our troops, and yet we now learn that they plan to disrupt a candlelight vigil organized to support our troops. Does that not sound like a contradiction?” asked Melanie Morgan, co-chairman of Move America Forward.

“First this couple erects a display where a U.S. soldier is hanged in effigy – with a noose around the neck. Then the couple hoists Palestinian and Iraqi flags in the windows to express their ‘sympathy’ with the insurgents in Iraq and the Palestinian suicide bombers that kill innocent Israeli citizens.”

Continued Morgan: “It seems the actions of the Pearcys and their anti-war supporters undercut their hollow words, and it does not seem they are truly interested in supporting our troops and their missions.”

Morgan, who is a talk-show host on KSFO in San Francisco, says some residents of the Bay Area will travel to Sacramento tonight for the vigil.

Said Howard Kaloogian, co-chairman of Move America Forward: “We want to show the heroic men and women of our armed forces that Americans stand behind them as they face incredible dangers and endure tremendous sacrifices in their fight against terrorism.”

The organization says it has received e-mails from some of the troops serving overseas who said they had seen the reports of the soldier hanged in effigy and were disturbed by the display.